1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for recording such as character images on a recording medium such as a recording paper.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, roll papers have generally been used as recording papers for a recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer (recording apparatus is referred to as printer hereinafter). Most of such printers are constructed such that a roll paper is set into the printer from the upper side and is withdrawn from the upper side. Therefore, other apparatuses can not be placed upon the top face of the printer, which is not advantageous in view of the reduction of space. Printers of another type are known in which a recording paper is withdrawn from the front side of the printer. This type of printers, however, have a problem that the setting of papers is difficult. Further, in the case that a roll paper is used, a cutter must be prepared. This further gives rise to a problem that a cut edge of the recording paper may become poor depending upon the structure of the cutter.
Alternatively, with such printers using a cut sheet paper, since the cut sheet paper is set into the printer one by one, there is a problem that operational simplicity is degraded.
It is common for the printers of these kinds to provide a stacker into which printed recording papers are stacked and accommodated. By virtue of recent developments in miniaturizing printers, the distance between the stacker and the recording section of the printer has become shorter and the portion of a recording paper is being fed into the stacker during printing. In contrast with this, almost all of the conventional stackers are usually mounted exposing outside of the printer. With this printer, if the printed recording paper is touched with hands, the print quality is extraordinarily damaged because ink is not dry. Moreover, since the stacker is mounted exterior to the printer, it results in a bulky size of the printer and in poor performance of accommodating recording papers.
As a further problem for these types of printers, since the paper feeder precision holds an important factor, it has been undesirable to touch the recording paper with hands before the printing is completely finished. For this reason, the printer has been constructed in such a way that the passage along which the recording paper is fed is convered with the frame. Therefore, print quality during printing can not be monitored. If the print quality can be monitored during printing, it is possible to carry out the printing more quickly, or to adjust the printing density, coloring or the like, if the printer can perform such adjustments, before the printing is completed.
Apart from the above, turning to a cassette applicable to printers of those types, that is, a cassette for accommodating a stack of plural cut sheet recording mediums, there arise the following problems. For instance, in the case that recording papers are set upside down into a paper feeder cassette, or in the case that recording papers differ in color or material, or other recording mediums are desired to be accomodated, it is required to take the previously set recording papers or mediums out of the cassette. However, in this case, a conventional cassette has generally been provided with an additional space other than the essential accommodation space so as to take out the recording sheets accommodated within the cassette by making full use of the additional space. This additional space leads to a bulky size of the paper feeder cassette as well as that of the printer itself. Alternatively, if such additional space is not provided, various disadvantages are brought about: That is, it is difficult to smoothly pull out hands due to the contact with the walls of the cassette, after the hands are inserted in the cassette for taking the recording papers; or the recording sheet is occasionally creased during such handling to thereby make the sheet impossible to be used again.
In such a paper feeder cassette, a known structure is that a tubular coil spring urging a recording sheet against a paper feeder roller via an intermediate plate of the cassette is provided for exerting a suitable frictional force between the roller of the printer and the recording sheet to be fed by the roller. The provision of the tubular coil spring however necessiates a certain housing space for it even if the spring is in the maximum compressed state. The space therefore limits the amount of recording sheets to be accommodated within the cassette. If the amount of recording sheets is intended to be increased, however in this case, the number of spring turns must be increased for enabling to resist against the weight of the recording sheets. Therefore, the height of the cassette becomes large, thereby preventing the miniaturization of the printer.